From the original Houston Fat Stock Show in 1932 to today's Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, people from across Houston, Texas and the world have always enjoyed this family event that celebrates Texas heritage. While that has remained a constant, the Show has undergone numerous changes as it moved from the Sam Houston Coliseum to the Astrodome complex and grown from seven men with an idea to an organization with nearly 13,000 volunteers. It will continue to evolve, but that growth probably never has been as evident as it will be with the changes for the 2001 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The most apparent change is the dates. RODEOHOUSTON™ performances start three days earlier, beginning on Tuesday, Feb. 13, and continuing through Sunday, March 4. There still will be 20 RODEOHOUSTON performances since there will be no matinee performances on Saturdays. Monday through Friday performances will begin at 7 p.m., but will no longer be preceded by an early bird rodeo. All weekend performances will begin at 4 p.m. All Livestock Show and RODEOHOUSTON ticket prices will increase by $1, but the new price includes round-trip transportation to the complex on Rodeo Express from satellite parking areas. Admission to the livestock show is still free for children 5 years old and younger. Unchanged from previous years, the first weekend of activities will kick off with the World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest, downtown parade and Go Texan contests. Dates for these activities are Feb. 8-10, 2001. The World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest will move to the southwest parking area of the Astrodome complex due to the stadium construction and will continue to have carnival rides, food and games adjacent to the contest area. All Go Texan contests will continue to be held at the Astrodomain, except for the Go Texan Hay Hauling Contest, which has been cancelled for the next two years. The livestock show schedule will expand to match the rodeo schedule, with the first livestock arriving for the open shows on Tuesday, Feb. 13. Before they even arrive at the Astrodome complex, all livestock exhibitors will first report to the Show's property on State Highway 288 and Reed Road to check in. This staging area will allow the livestock -- cattle, chickens, goats, llamas, rabbits, sheep, swine and turkeys -- to have health papers checked and be assigned stalls before proceeding to the Astrodomain. After livestock and tack have been unloaded, livestock exhibitors' trailers will be parked at Butler Stadium, the same location they have been parked in previous years. All livestock will be stalled in the south or west wings of the Astrohall
or in the southwest corner of the Astroarena, where a new Pavilion arena
and stalls will be set up in what was formerly the commercial cattle pen
area. The Pavilion Arena will replace the East Arena and West Arena that
were formerly utilized in the Astrohall. Events previously held in the Astrohall
wings, such as the junior barrow, junior lamb and llama shows, will be showcased
in this new arena. Shows for ostriches, Nigerian Dwarf goats and open breeding
swine have been To best accommodate horse show exhibitors, two of the breed shows will move off-site. The Arabian/Half Arabian and Appaloosa shows will move to the Great Southwest Equestrian Center in Katy. The Miniature Horse show has been discontinued. The Sales Pavilion in the Astroarena will continue to be the home of the junior market, Premier Horse and breed-specific cattle sales. The Registered Range Bull Sale and the All Breeds Commercial Female Sale will move to the Houston Farm and Ranch Club. The limitation for space on the Astrodomain grounds also has created a major shift in the location of some of the Show's educational exhibits. The AGVENTURE Plaza will move inside the Astrohall and occupy the entire east wing. Although at a new location, AGVENTURE will integrate Destination: AGVENTURE, Rodeo Experience and the dairy exhibits to continue to present family entertainment for all ages and educational displays promoting agriculture and the sport of rodeo. Families still will have the opportunity to visit petting zoos, the chick hatchery and Goat Mountain and to watch baby animals, spinning and weaving demonstrations, and entertaining shows. Outside of the east wing, food vendors will line a new plaza along Naomi Street. Between Naomi and Northeast Drive, visitors will find all sorts of action as the carnival moves to the east side of the complex, as does the popular pig races. The Hideout will return at a new location. Visitors to the Show will find Double E Plaza as it has been in the past, with food vendors and an entertainment stage between the Astrohall and Astroarena. The daily Show parade through the plaza has been discontinued. One of the biggest challenges for the 2001 Show has been meeting the parking needs of everyone who attends the Show -- visitors, exhibitors, volunteers and many others. In order to accommodate everyone, a combination of on-site and off-site parking lots will be utilized. Public parking will be at satellite locations that include METRO Park & Ride locations, off-site Show lots and private lots. Most notable will be a parking facility being constructed on Show property on State Highway 288 that will have a shuttle running from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. to serve off-duty committee volunteers and daytime visitors. This lot also will serve as parking for horse show exhibitors' trailers. The new 3,000-space parking lot on the west side of Kirby Drive will be reserved parking. Livestock show, horse show and commercial exhibitors will be allowed to park, without trailers, on-site in the southwest corner of the grounds. This same area will provide parking to on-duty committee volunteers. Show officials, lifetime vice presidents and directors also will have a designated parking area on the premises. Moving visitors and volunteers to and from off-site facilities will be expedited through an expanded bus operations and transportation center. Drivers will utilize the Naomi and Holly Hall entrances from Fannin Street to bring buses in and out of the complex in a streamlined process. A ticket window and will call at the transportation center will allow passengers to buy or pick up tickets on-site once they are on the premises. While the premises will look a little different than in the past few years, plans for Show operations have been designed to utilize every possible area and to compensate for losses due to construction. Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo officials and staff, as well as the volunteers, are committed to making the 2001 Show an incredible experience for all visitors.
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